Turbine disks are typically employed in gas turbine engines. In some cases, the turbine disk may be made of a superalloy material comprised of superalloy powder that has been consolidated by a powder metallurgy process into billets and forged into fine-grained disks. Slots may be machined into an outer periphery of the disk to receive turbine blades. The turbine blades may be individually cast and machined with firtree attachments that enable them to be inserted into the machined slots. Typically, the turbine disk can tolerate disk rim temperatures of up to about 675° C., while the turbine blades may tolerate higher temperatures.
Although the aforementioned powder metallurgy turbine disks operate adequately, they may be improved. In particular, creep and sustained peak low cycle fatigue cracking may occur at grain boundaries when the disk rim temperature exceeds about 675° C. As a result, the useful life of powder metallurgy turbine disks may be limited.
Hence, it would be desirable to have an improved turbine disk and/or other turbine engine components that can operate reliably when disk rim temperatures exceed 675° C. Moreover, it is desirable to have a method of manufacturing that minimizes manufacturing costs. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the inventive subject matter will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description of the inventive subject matter and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background of the inventive subject matter.